


Chuck Versus the Intersected Doppelganger

by CelticGHardy



Category: Chuck (TV), White Collar
Genre: And it turned into a minor crossover in the end, Crossover, Gen, I started out having Doctor Who references, and others - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-26
Updated: 2013-04-26
Packaged: 2017-12-09 14:00:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/775006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CelticGHardy/pseuds/CelticGHardy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peter's team and Team Bartowski have gotten together. The Ring has a money launder and while that's usually White Collar territory, Team B is also using it as a way to start the destruction of the Ring. Now, Neal has somehow acquired an Intersect. Intersect 2.0, one that should only have one copy. Chuck Bartowski. So where did Neal's come from?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, this is set season three of Chuck and season one of White Collar, with hints from Season 5 and Season 3 respectively.
> 
> I had this done last year for crossover big bang. And I'm writing a sequel for this years.
> 
> Random warning for Chuck type of violence and swearing.
> 
> Art post - http://whogate.livejournal.com/4939.html

“All right,” Peter called to attention, everyone swerving to face him. Neal was leaning against the back window and reading more into the latest information. “The man that we are going after is Justin Hanover. He runs a small chain of restaurants throughout most of the Upper East Coast.”

“The guy behind Sadako Sushi?” Jones asked.

“Never trust a place that names part of their restaurant after a vengeful ghost from J-Horror,” Neal commented. Peter stared at him for a couple of seconds before shaking it off. “What?”

“J-Horror?”

“Yeah, Japanese horror.”

Peter shook his head again before continuing on the speech. “Three months ago, an employee of Hanovers came in and told us that they thought something shady was going on. Looking closer, we found Hanover was taking out large amounts of loans, even though he's making profits in the millions. The supposed funds were to go into the building of new restaurants across states. But the projects are turned down for some small reason and the money goes back to the bank.”

Neal picked up on the last word. “Bank? Same one every time?”

“Yep. Hanover uses RIght National Gateway bank for personal and work transactions,” Peter confirmed.

“The I's always capitalized?” Neal asked.

“Trademarked that way. Now, this bank has been looked at several times for money laundering. We think the restaurant is being used as one of the changing points. We may be able to get into the operation and break it up entirely.”

“That's been linked to several terrorist groups and drug runners,” Cruz brought up.

“Which is why we're also working with Counterterrorism,” he added, “One of the groups has been investigated by some FBI agents out on the West Coast. They're coming in later with their information. I want to wait before we start sending anyone in.” He looked over at Neal for the last part. “Let's see what we can get from the bank statements, the restaurants and try to trace the money for now.”

Neal looked down at his papers, pencil circling some letters in the names. He had managed to pick up on RING in the banks name, but he didn't understand what it meant. He'll call Moz to find out more about the bank and the restaurant. He looked at the papers that were left on his table for him to scan through. I'm going to need coffee. Lots and lots of coffee. He looked over at the maker and saw Jones filling a mug. Taking a sip, he grimaced and added lots of sugar before he could drink it again.

“Coffee run,” he muttered, heading out.

{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}

The three people that were heading to New York at the end of the week weren't FBI, although Peter didn't know that. The three were actually agents of the CIA and NSA. General Beckman showed on the screen just as the three members of the team, Chuck Bartowski, Sarah Walker and John Casey, were gathering around the table. “Perfect timing,” she noted. “On the table are files relating to a FBI case of money laundering.”

“Money laundering?” Sarah questioned.

“That isn't exactly our area, General,” Casey mentioned.

“Except that this launderer is a Ring Operative and the business that he runs and the bank he's connected to are fronts for the Ring.” The first file on the table had surveillance pictures of the man. Chuck glanced at the picture and flashed. “Anything to add, Bartowski?”

“His restaurant is named after a horror character,” he said.

“The NSA and CIA want to use this as a way to start bringing down the Ring. Taking out one of their ways to clean money may hinder them. At least for a little while. We've already contacted the agents, and told them you are a Counterterrorism group with the FBI that investigated one of the smaller groups that have ties. You'll be sent out later this week and should arrive by Friday. In the meantime, these are the files on the investigation and the White Collar team of New York. They're the ones that are leading the case into the money laundering.” Beckman nodded before signing off.

They split up the files. Chuck ran over all of them first for any flashes that he could just tell them. The main ones on the investigation went quickly and he passed them along to Sarah and Casey. He slid another file over to her and picked up the next one. He opened it and gasped. “What's wrong?” Sarah asked, noticing he wasn't flashing, just staring.

“It's Bryce,” he whispered, lifting up the file. Neal Caffrey's consultant ID photo was enlarged and along side the information about the anklet agreement and cases he worked on. 

Casey mutely growled as he saw the photo. Sarah was stunned as well. Bryce is alive and working for the FBI? No. “Chuck, he's dead. We recovered his body; I had his ashes, remember?”

“But...” _He's died before and they brought him back and Fulcrum was a small part of the Ring and usually the badder guys do worse things so they could have made us all think he was dead and the CIA isn't that known for telling us if someone is still alive until we get paired up with them._ “It's happened before. Fulcrum brought him back because they thought he had the Intersect. The Ring would see him as a perfect host for the Intersect.” _If he didn't have one already, his eyes were open when I started the download._

She looked sadly, watching a small sliver of hope trying to expand. “I don't think it's him,” she apologized, “I'm sorry, Chuck.”

He sighed, “Too good to be true. I didn't flash on him, guess that should have told me.” He moved on to the next file, passing the Caffrey one to them.

{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}

Neal and Peter walked in to see Lauren walking over. “Counterterrorism's already here. Put 'em up in the conference room,” she reported.

“Good, we better get started with the introductions soon,” Peter said, heading on up. He pulled Neal at the last moment and ordered, “No pranks. Don't lift their wallets and don't start a war.” He walked in. “Hello, my name's Agent Burke. My team, Jones,” he pointed out, “And Cruz. And Neal. He's not an agent.

The female agent stood up and took his hand. “SJ Smith. My colleagues Mike Yates,” she nodded to the slimmer man at her side, “And John Benton.” The larger, clearly former military man nodded.

Neal sat next to 'Mike' and Jones. Peter took the lead and caught up the new agents. After going through the basics of the case, he announced, “We have a plan in motion. Hanover has been entertaining new clients. We're going to send in Neal, using 'Nick Halden'. He's going to convince Hanover that he has some money that needs to be cleaned. Once we have the trail on paper, we're going after him.”

“Sending in an unarmed man?” 'Benton' grumbled.

'Mike' spoke up, “These money launderers work with dangerous people. Wouldn't it be a better idea to send in someone with experience? And a gun?”

“Unless you have an alias that would work in the situation, Neal's the best way in.”

“Can we send someone in with him?” 'SJ' asked, “In case something does happen.”

Neal said, “Hanover is entertaining. He might be expecting me to show up with some type of escort.”

Peter looked over at Cruz, trying to imagine the order he would have to give to the agent. 'SJ' interjected, “Agent Burke, as much as your agent is proficient, I insist that I be the one to accompany your informant. I know what and who to look for.”

Peter sighed, “Lauren, do you have any problems not going in her place?” She shook her head. “Okay. Lets go over the party details.”

{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}

'SJ' saw the transmitters the FBI had proved and almost grimaced. They weren't the high-tech items she was used to, but the FBI didn't have budgets like the CIA. Hers was hidden as a large bauble, and to her, hideous necklace. Neal had a decent, but still bad fake watch.

“All right,” Peter said, “Any sign of trouble, you or Smith say 'UNIT' and we're in.”

“Unit, got it,” Neal repeated, fixing his tie. He waited by the car that would drive them to the party. 'SJ' whispered something in 'Mikes' ear and lightly kissed him. So they're together. He held open the door and allowed her in first before sliding in himself.

The first Sadako restaurant had been expanded to allow for several small, separate parties when people ordered them. Now, the entire place was closed and Hanover had each of the small rooms open as much as possible for his guests. After being searched, they were allowed to mingle with the other guests. Neal recognized several counterfeiters and other forgers, who he purposely sought out and reintroduced himself so Peter could pick up on their names.

“Nichols,” Justin chatted, “It is a pleasure to meet you. I've heard a lot about you through circles. And this beautiful woman would be....”

“Elizabeth,” she volunteered, “But Liz, please.”

“Of course. The theme tonight is no talk about work, but I can't help if those that want to work together talk about it anyways,” he half joked. “The caterers are my workers, so everything's safe to eat from my end.”

“Thank you,” Neal said, allowing him to leave so he could talk to someone else. Looking around, he saw that the main source of thugs and enforcers were at the party, making sure there weren't any problems with fights. He motioned to 'SJ' and she nodded, moving along with him to get to the door at the back.

'Sjs' first stop was the computer at the desk. Neal looked around for hard copies of recorders while she looked over and copied the entire contents. Or tried to. Using her phone, she texted Chuck. 'Won't download a file.'

'Manually drop it on the icon.' She tried that and received another error.

'Not working.'

'Probably locked. Don't worry about it.' She nodded and finished the download. Neal had found messages between Hanover and a clerk from the bank. “Coded,” he muttered, thinking about different codes and trying to figure it out. 'SJ' looked over his shoulder and motioned to let her take photos with her phone.

The crash of someone stumbling into a wall started both of them. 'SJ' went to check it out. Neal went over to the computer. He woke it back up and went through the last known processes. “All copied except for TI2009L,” he mouthed. _Agent 'Smith' wasn't allowed clearance to do this. Peter didn't authorize it._ Curious, he opened the file that didn't copy.

The entire screen went black, before the first picture came up. After that, they flashed by at high speed. Neal couldn't turn away after a few seconds, the program going faster. Within a minute, the program ended. The sudden shock hurt his head; dropping it on the desk didn't help either.

'SJ' came back to see Neal behind the computer. “Come on,” she hissed, “We need to get back before we're noticed.” Nodding, he got up and wiped the computer information before putting it into sleep.

Stepping back out to the main part of the restaurant, Neal looked over at Justin, who was talking to a forger. As his face turned and gave him the full profile, Neal's brain started bringing up unrelated pictures. Attached to each of the pictures was information that entered his conscious like he had just read it.

_Justin Phineas Hanover is a Ring member. His business, Sadako Sushi, is a front for activity along with RIght National Gateway bank, which is a major Ring enterprise. The money that they have cleaned is reported to have come from multiple sources, including terrorist groups and drug cartels._

'SJ' had to pull him out of his trance and motioned to Justin again. He had called for everyone's attention. “This has been great fun,” he announced, “Some of you I haven't seen in years. Daniel, you must come more often. Some I have just recently met.” He motioned to Neal, who raised his glass to acknowledge. “Hopefully, we can continue to keep this operation running for a long time.”

 _Hopefully not._ Neal took a large sip of his champagne and waited for the cue to leave.

{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}

'Mike,' aka Chuck Bartowski, was going through the downloaded files that 'SJ,' Sarah, had downloaded. The encryptions was high, but he was working through it steadily. The last part was completed and he was able to open files without crashing anything. He waded through personal files for any hint of terrorist networks and Ring operations before dropping them in a separate folder. Then he got to the ledger books and looked for connections.

“Anything?” Sarah asked, already in bedtime affair.

He hadn't looked up, otherwise he would have seen. “Nothing yet, haven't flashed on anything,” he reported, then looked into a files that was labeled ITI2009L. Reading it a couple of minutes, he had to stop himself from gasping. He got lost in the report and didn't notice Sarah until she sat down next to him.

She started to try and read the report, but he was already a few pages in and didn't understand it quite as well. “What is it?” she questioned.

“I.... I think the file you couldn't copy was locked for a reason,” he said, turning to her, “I think it was an Intersect. Possibly two point oh. The one inside my head.”

“Chuck, that's not possible. You were the only one in the room when the download took place. There was no way to get a copy out beforehand that wouldn't have been found,” she argued.

A hopeful and disturbing thought ran through Chuck's head. “I was the only person, but I wasn't the only body. Bryce.”


	2. Chapter 2

Neal woke up with a little pounding in his head. _Please don't tell me I'm getting sick. Now would be the... well not the absolute time but still bad._ Managing to find an aspirin, he took it with his coffee and ate dry toast with a tiny banana instead of the omelets the chef had been making.

Peter picked him up. “We have a problem. The employee that came to us about the laundering is dead,” he admitted.

He looked at him. “No one knew about her,” he worried.

“No, her name wasn't on any of the papers and the only ones who knew where she lived was the immediate team.”

“If they killed her....”

“Jones and Cruz are going to be watching Junes at night. You're with me during the day. More likely, they had their suspicions and followed her when she was coming to the FBI.”

“What about the new agents? From Counterterrorism?”

“Let's not jump into that yet. We go through all the outside possibilities before thinking it's someone within the team.”

{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}

Casey had the file on Rhonda Jape before Chuck and Sarah were fully prepared for the day. He waited for his team to get breakfast before pouncing it on them. He passed his computer screen to Sarah first. “She was the one that reported the laundering,” he stated, digging into his eggs.

Sarah quickly glanced through the report. “I don't see anything that might indicate the assassin. Mike,” she cited, using his alias.

Chuck stopped eating so he could look at the report without feeling green. He was still a bit nauseous looking at a dead body, but didn't flash on anything in the photo or the report. “Nothing,” he said, looking down at his cereal before pushing it away. He watched his two partners continue to eat and decided to go outside.

The three arrived after Peter and Neal. They were already in the conference room and waiting for the three to begin. “For those that don't know, Rhonda Jape, our witness and employee of Sadako Sushi, was murdered sometimes late last night,” he lectured, “Her sister was worried when she didn't show up for service and went over to her apartment.”

'Mike' was going through the FBI report, which was less than the report he had already seen, but ideas came into his head. “Is it possible that she was followed?” he inquired.

“We're thinking that, although her place of residence was on the forms for her employment.”

“Wouldn't take much to get the information,” 'Benton' noted, “Security cameras around the area?”

“Just starting to get the footage. NYPD technically has the case until we can decide it's part of our case. It's been processed by their forensics, but we're going to go over it again,” Peter told him. His computer dinged at him and he checked out his email. “We already have the first video footage.” He found a way to place it on the flat screen and started it.

'Mike' and Neal both saw the man at the exact same time. The Intersect brought up his information. _Ring member Harold Saxon, codenamed 'The Master'. Responsible for several deaths of political figures and agents of the CIA, NSA, MI-6, and other allies._ 'Mike' was the first to pull out, mentally reviewing the information and thinking up a quick misdirection in his actual affiliation. “I remember him,” he claimed, “Saxon, he's part of a small  Ring over on the west coast.”

“Well, it looks like they're expanding out here,” Peter said. With nothing new to add, everyone split up to go back to their desks. 'Mike' 'SJ' and 'Benton' had been allowed to use a conference room for their work.

Making sure the door was closed, 'Benton' turned to 'Mike'. “He's Ring?”

“Codenamed the Master, responsible for several agent and political deaths.”

“Hanover knows about her meeting with the FBI,” 'SJ' pointed out.

“Do you think he'll try to kill the agents?” 'Mike' questioned.

“That would bring more FBI agents on his ass for killing a few of their own,” 'SJ' figured, “They might find a way to scare them off.”

“Any type of threatening would just make Burke angry,” 'Benton' cited, “He's the type.”

“So they'll try to destroy the case. Any evidence that's been collected, falsify others,” 'Mike' piped in.

“Discredit,” 'SJ' added, “Neal Caffrey. We need to keep an eye on him.”

“Keeping an eye on Larkin's clone,” 'Benton' grumbled, “This isn't what we came out here for.”

“We can watch Caffrey. The evidence should also be watched. We need to have a plausible reason to stay here,” 'SJ' brought up.

“Lets tell Burke,” 'Mike' suggested.

“No,” 'Benton' shot down.

“We don't mention the Ring. We say that Hanover might find a way to the evidence, that maybe one of the terrorist groups he's cleaning money for has someone to send in,” 'Mike' proposed.

“Burke's clean,” 'SJ' pointed out, “So are the agents in this division. It would work better to have them on our side than not. The Ring's more likely to force an agent to help them.”

The three filed back into the main part of the office. Neal was going out, so 'Mike' joined him. 'Benton' walked up to Peters office and knocked before being waved in. Jumping right in, he questioned, “How secure is the evidence against Hanover and the bank?”

Peter stared at him before asking, “Do you think Hanover is going to try and somehow destroy our evidence?”

“He has connections through his network inside the government. His first thought would be to stop the agents investigating, but he's not going to risk the wrath of the FBI for having you killed. So he's going to try and destroy your case.”

“The evidence,” he nodded, “Much of the paper are copies of electronic files. Having the originals someplace where they couldn't touched.”

“Away from the main evidence but still within the chain of custody,” 'Benton' supplied.

“Also limiting the people that could have access. My immediate team and your team would be the only ones. Locked away from the main holding area,” he suggested, thinking about the calls he would have to make.

While 'Benton' and Peter started increasing security on the evidence, 'Mike' was with Neal, helping him get coffee for the teams. 'SJ' was a few feet behind, tailing the both in case someone tried to attack. Neal had spotted her as soon as they stepped out. “So why exactly is your girlfriend following us?” he inquired.

'Mike' almost spit out his coffee. “She's not my girlfriend. I mean, she is my girlfriend but she's not following us,” he babbled.

“Right, which is why she's tailing us instead of joining us. What, does she think I'm going to steal you away?” he joked. The agent almost choked on his coffee, which caused him to raise an eyebrow while he calmed himself down. Waiting, he turned back to her. “It would be easier if you could carry you own coffee.”

'SJ' walked forward and grabbed the little tray from 'Mike'. “You okay?” she questioned.

“Fine, fine,” he lied, voice not higher than a whisper. He then stood up and offered to take the tray back. He carefully sipped his coffee while looking around. His eyes fell to a man that was on his cell, but kept glancing at the three of them.

_Ring. Valist Kruck, former KGB now hired mercenary. Responsible for several attacks on US soil._

He motioned to 'SJ' about the man, who nodded and placed herself on the other side of Neal. “Shouldn't you two lovebirds be together?” he asked, not seeing the man that was following them.

“We need to get back to the office,” 'SJ' informed.

“And they can't know. Interoffice relationships,” 'Mike' interjected. He nodded and went back to his coffee, seeing a man standing a few feet in front of them.

_Isaf Retch, Mossad agent and Ring member. Responsible for several deaths._

He paused and realized that the two agents had moved ahead of him before he shook himself out of it. Both looked at each other until he caught sight. No one said anything as they continued to move toward Federal Plaza. 'Mike' noticed Retch as well, meeting with Kruck and another person the Intersect reported him to be Erigric, former IRA. He glanced at 'SJ' who had finished her coffee and was prepared to fight. His coffee went into the trash and the one for 'Benton' went on Neal's tray for him to carry. “When the men attack, we want you to just head into the building,” 'SJ' informed Neal, “We'll take care of them. Just send a couple of agents for backup when you get up to White Collar.”

'Mike' argued before he could even say anything. “They want you, injured, kidnapped, whatever to make sure the case falls apart. We're not going to allow that to happen.” Neal knew he wasn't going to be much help, so he nodded to agree.

The three men moved so they were just behind the group, Erigric ready to grab the person that went toward the FBI building. 'SJ' waited until one man was close to him when she turned and slammed into him, lifting his weapon and pushing him back. 'Mike' had paused a fraction of a second before taking down the closer of the two, twisting the wrist and delivering two hits to the mans face before he forced him back with a solid chest blow. The second man approached with a knife. Spinning out of the way, he took the knife hand in his left and kept it in a hold while he kicked the side of a knee, bringing him down so he could deliver a chip to the neck, knocking him unconscious.

Neal had almost made it to the door when he was roughly grabbed. Justin Hanover had a gun digging into his ribs. “Mr. 'Halden',” he mocked. He winced when he felt the gun dig in even deeper. “Drop the coffees and walk toward the van,” he ordered.

However, whatever was in him had other ideas. Instead of pictures and information, it brought up a complicated move that would remove the gun from Hanover's hand and beat the man. His body started carrying it out before he even knew what was going on. The hand and gun were driven down with his left hand, his right arm slammed into his face, breaking his nose. The momentary distraction allowed him to sweep out Hanover's feet, dropping him to the ground. He kicked the gun away just as 'SJ' and 'Mike' came over, weapons drawn.

“You okay?” 'Mike' asked.

The headache started kicking up again after his action, but he wasn't physically injured. “Fine,” he replied.

“Lets get these guys inside,” 'SJ' suggested, looking over to Peter and the team, who had come out when someone had called up and told them what was happening.

“Justin Hanover, you're under arrest for attempted kidnapping,” Peter recited, pulling out his handcuffs and dragging him through the doors. Jones had Erigric while 'SJ' and Lauren walked in Retch and 'Benton' and 'Mike' got Kruck. 

Neal waited for all of them to head in first before following. He made it up to the office before heading to the bathroom instead of his desk. Locking the door, he paced a few times before stopping and leaning against the wall so he could close his eyes and save his brain for a minute. “What the hell is going on?” he muttered. The information was weird enough, and it was shooting his reaction time. He couldn't control when it activated. If he couldn't control it, then he would have problems working. He didn't even want to know what would happen if someone found out about it. _If they even believed what it was telling me. Mozs ideas about secret government projects sound extremely realistic right now._

'Mike' knocked on the door, asking, “Whoever has this door locked, could you please unlock?” Neal unlocked the door and moved back to his desk before 'Mike' could ask anything.

{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}

'SJ,' 'Benton' and 'Mike' bent over their work, but they weren't talking about the case. “Pretty boy like him wouldn't be pulling off the moves you saw,” 'Benton' commented, “He's not the type. Even if he is a clone of Larkin.”

“I know what I saw,” 'Mike' argued, “Besides, it makes sense with what I think is going on. Neal must have gotten on the computer after you and opened the program you couldn't download, which was an Intersect. My guess is two point oh, given the information I read. They somehow were able to extract it and created another.”

“Extract it from who?”

He sighed, “Bryce. I don't think we actually did recover his body and he was the only other one in the room when the download took place.” _I haven't disappeared for long enough for them to get the information out of me and it could have been possible that he still took it in. His eyes were open and he wouldn't have died straight away from the gun wound._

“We need to find some way to prove that he has the Intersect. If he does, we have to tell Beckman,” 'SJ' declared.

“We'll have to watch him carefully for some of the same indications that he has,” 'Benton' motioned at 'Mike'.

“Or we could test him,” 'Mike' suggested, remembering how his father found out he had the Intersect.

“You have an idea?” 'SJ' asked.

“I have an idea,” he admitted.


	3. Chapter 3

Peter started working on a warrant for all of the properties under Hanover's name. The man had lawyered up before he even hit the interview room. His three accomplices also had done the same thing, although one claimed Mossad would claim him before long. He shook his head and returned to his papers while they started patching their case together.

Neal was looking at the papers, but just looking, not doing anything else. He was still thinking about what the thing inside his head had done. He didn't want to talk to Moz; his paranoid friend might start enacting escape plans and he doesn't know how well he would be able to escape. “Hey, Neal,” someone called.

He looked up to see 'Mike', who looked a little nervous. “Yeah?”

“I was wondering if we could go someplace. Burke's taking a while to get the warrant, you're distracted and I have no work at the moment. Maybe we could walk around the city,” he lied.

Neal looked at him. It was like he was purposely lying badly to get him to go with him. _What is he worried about?_ He wanted to take his mind off of the thing and his headache could use a rest from the fluorescent lights. “Sure, I could use another coffee anyways,” he commented, “My last one ended up on the ground.”

'Mike' seemed to be leading by comment. After Neal got another coffee and 'Mike' opted for a chai tea, he ended up suggesting a few places that he wanted to see and Neal accommodated him. Some of the places were small galleries that featured pop art, including one painting that was supposed to be inspired by Star Trek red shirts. He didn't get it, but 'Mike' did.

After a stop at a comic shop, where 'Mike' picked up a Superman comic, he said he wanted to go and work out. Neal recommended a gym that wasn't that far from his apartment, but 'Mike' really wanted to head to a building that wasn't known to many people outside of his team.

The entire place was empty minus the team, which was perfect. 'SJ' and 'Benton', Sarah and Casey, were in another section, giving their report to General Beckman, and waiting for Chuck to test Neal on whether he had an Intersect, specifically two point oh or a Ring equivalent.

He had plenty of knives on him, courtesy of Sarah who told him they were better for discreet measures. However, he didn't want to kill Neal, so he asked that they have a dull one that wouldn't injure as painfully when he threw it and Neal couldn't catch it. He made sure that he was only a few feet away, about the same distance when his Dad threw one at him.

“Neal,” he called and waited until he was facing him before throwing.

Whatever was in Neal's head kicked back up again, showing him a complicated moved that simplified into catching the knife in between his hands before it hit him. He was in shock for five seconds before lowering his hands with the knife still in between. “What the hell!” he shouted, “Why did you throw a knife at me?”

“I'm sorry; I'm sorry. I... I had to, I need to ask you some questions about what you've been experiencing,” he apologized.

“You had to?”

“Yeah.”

“Why would you have to?”

“Look, we should really talk about this,” he started.

“Talk about it?”

“We need to figure out what is going on,” he implored. At that point, 'SJ' and 'Benton' walked into the room, back in civilian clothes instead of suits and Neal was now beginning to quietly panic. _Moz would be having a field day with this._

'Mike' or whoever he was, walked over and calmly started steering him into the hall and down to a conference room with a TV that had the NSA logo on it. He sat Neal down before sitting down across from him. 'SJ' sat beside him and 'Benton' stood beside the door. “All right,” 'Mike' started, “Lets start with Hanover's party. You and 'SJ' were going through things in his office.”

“She was at the computer. Peter didn't authorize any copying off the computer,” he continued.

“You decided to see what she had been doing.”

“I noticed a file didn't copy.”

“You opened it.” He nodded. “What did it show you?”

“Pictures, they went fast. I didn't get a great look at them.”

'Mike' asked, “When you looked at Hanover after the pictures, did anything happen?”

Neal didn't quite want to acknowledge that yet, so he inquired, “How do you mean?”

“Did your mind kick up pictures that then turned into information, information that you couldn't know from the FBI?”

He couldn't deny it. “Yes.”

'Mike' explained, “What you have is called an Intersect. It contains information and in your case, physical skills that come up after something stimulates it, code phrases, a person or a situation that you need the physical skills for. Whenever the Intersect kicks up, I call it a flash. Did you have any more flashes between the party and today?”

_'Mike' has one as well?_ “Yeah,” he informed, “Saxon and Kruck, and the fight with Hanover.” With nothing else to talk about, he asked, “Is there any way of getting this out? This Intersect. I don't like what's it doing.”

'SJ' questioned, “What is it doing?”

“I don't like when I can't control my body,” he admitted.

“And you have a headache,” 'Mike' mentioned, pulling out something.

“How....”

“It's common. I used to have headaches,” he testified, “This is called a governor. It helps regulate the Intersect and keeps your brain from overheating.”

“Did you also slip in a tracking device? Because I already have one of those,” he lamented, his ankle twitching at the thought.

“There's not enough room for one between the governor and the watch,” he cracked. Neal slipped on the watch and latched it. His brain felt better, the headache fading and the weight of something he didn't even realize slowly retracting. “Feels a lot better, doesn't it?”

He nodded, “Yeah, it does.”

“Now that we have that out of the way,” someone interrupted and his head shot up fast to see a woman in place of the logo on the computer. “Neal George Caffrey, born October eleventh, ninety eighty-one. Parents are George Caffrey and Maria Caffrey, both deceased.”

“Yes....” he confirmed, wondering what was going on.

“What I'm about to tell you cannot be repeated to anyone that you're working with, including your handler,” she dictated. 

“This has to do with the Ring that came up with the flashes, doesn't it?” he inquired.

“Smart. And yes, it does. The Ring is an international terrorist group that dwarfs Al Quaeda. They have been responsible for several attacks in the United States and abroad. Most have been claimed by other groups, but we've linked them to the Ring.”

Neal pieced things together. “You plan on harming them taking out the laundering.”

“That's our target. Your investigation has gotten closer to shutting them down than past trials.”

“If we were close, why did you send your team?” he questioned.

“To ensure it. Your witness is dead and you were almost abducted. They're trying to destroy the case.”

Neal agreed with that, but didn't voice it when his phone went off. Checking it quickly, he said, “It's Peter.”

“Take it out in the hall,” Beckman ordered. She also motioned 'Benton' to go with him.

“Hey, Peter,” he greeted.

“We got the warrant. The restaurant and three warehouses.”

“Warehouses?”

“He said, through his lawyer, that he keeps his food there for most of the east coast. That's the reason he has three. I'm gathering field agents to hit all four places.”

“Where are the three warehouses?” Peter rattled off the addresses. It was the second one he flashed on. The Intersect recognized it as a Ring holding facility. For what, he didn't know, but a picture of a medical room showed up before the flash ended.

'Mike' and 'SJ' had turned back to Beckman. “Bartowski, your hunch was right,” she confirmed, “Neal Caffrey was adopted. The original birth record shows he was the older of twins.”

“The second twin?” Sarah inquired.

“Born October twelve, ninety eighty-one, adopted by Kevin and Leah Larkin.”

“Bryce has a twin,” he smiled, “Sounds like a Hallmark film.” Sarah stared at him when Neal and 'Benton' walked in “What is it?”

Neal motioned to his governor before placing his phone on speaker. “I'm with the counterterrorism team, Peter. Repeat the warehouse addresses for them.”

'Mike' flashed on the second address like Neal had. He started looking up energy readings. The electricity usage was actually less than the other two. He showed this to 'SJ' and 'Benton'. “Agent Burke, we'll take the second warehouse,” 'SJ' volunteered, “We think there may be some connections to a collection of groups we've been investigating.”

“Fine, Neal, I need you to meet us at the restaurant. My gut says he's the type to keep things close.”

“Got it, Peter,” he said, looking toward the other three. Ending the call, he perceived, “I'm not going to Peter, am I?”

“No, right now, the safest you'll be is with this team,” Beckman told him, “Head down to the warehouse and see what the Ring is hiding.”

{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}

The team walked down to another area of the building, Neal following behind. An SUV was ready to be taken out. 'Benton' started checking out several weapons and gathering ammo before setting it in the back. 'SJ' started bringing out knives and her own gun before grabbing an extra clip and sneaking it away. “Neal,” Mike waved. He waited for him to walk over. He was going through bulletproof vests. “Here,” he passed one that was just larger than him, “And if you don't want to ruin your suit, there are some extra clothes in that room over there.” He pointed to a room just off the garage.

Neal walked into the room to see it was a closet. Mens suits and casual clothes were on the left, womens dresses of all types and casual were on the right. He quickly stripped down to his wife beater and his boxers before switching to jeans and his shoes for those that he can run a little faster in. He strapped the vest on before selecting a black button up that he can still hide his picks under, between the vest and the shirt.

'Mike' stared at him for a couple of seconds before being called over by 'SJ'. Both he and Neal sat in the back while 'Benton' drove to the location.

Three minutes later, Peter pulled up. “Neal,” he warned.

“Peter, I can...” he observed, “Actually I can't really explain this.”

“Agent Burke, later on, we will have to explain what exactly is going to happen surrounding Caffrey,” 'SJ' yelled, readying her gun, “For now, you are welcome to join us.” 'Benton' had two guns strapped to him while holding another. Peter took about a minute but he ripped off his suit jacket and opened his trunk for his vest.

'Mike' was checking a gun and motioned for Neal to come over. He tried to hand one to him. “I don't use guns,” he rejected.

“It's a tranquilizer gun,” he assured.

Peter saw the attempted exchange and argued, “He's not allowed a weapon and he's not going in.”

“Agent Burke, as someone that has been in his position before, it's never safe in the car,” 'Mike' countered. He still held the gun to Neal, who reluctantly took it, checking for himself before grabbing a refill clip.

'Mike' disabled the electronic lock on the door before 'Benton' and 'SJ' took lead. 'Mike,' Neal and Peter ended up switching between middle and back. Two guards walked by; they backed up and waited for them to pass before 'Benton' knocked them out, patting them down for weapons before tying them up and storing them in a closet.

'Mike' ended up looking in a lit room to see crates stacked up on each other. Reading the side, the Intersect kicked up Russian and he roughly translated it. “There are hundreds of guns in there,” he whispered.

'Benton' took a look. “Damn,” he muttered.

The next room 'SJ' and 'Benton' looked in, but didn't see anything illegal. The third and fourth rooms held various drugs, enough to fund a few wars, Peter quietly commented. The fifth had a printing press that Neal stared at before being dragged off.

“Finally,” 'Mike' muttered, disabling the lock to an office. He went to the computer, starting it up. Neal saw cabinets and picked the lock on one before opening the drawers.

“Peter,” he mumbled, holding up a file. He pulled out another file after the one in his hand disappeared.

“He's kept records going back thirty years,” Peter muttered.

'Mike' motioned to his two partners and pointed to a file on the screen. “There's another one here,” 'SJ' whispered.

“And it's not locked; Hanover may have been trying to find a host or using himself and raise his standing in the Ring,” he suggested.

“He's also helping the people he's cleaning money for?” Peter questioned, grabbing another file and shifting through it.

“Hanover's in this more than just money laundering,” 'Benton' partially confirmed, letting them know they were listening. 

Peter looked over to Neal. “This proves our case.”

“You won't be able to take any of the papers, not yet” 'SJ' explained, “Hanover's partners can't see that anything's wrong. They'll pick up fast, find someone else and we won't see them again until they launch another attack.”

“You're trying to take down everyone with a clear strike,” he nodded, “But I can't pass this up.”

Neal looked around and spotted a scanner. “Hook this up,” he offered, “We scan the most damning papers to use.”

“Somehow find a way to lock it so the lawyers can't argue them,” Peter added, “Good idea, Neal.” They scanned about ten pages when a noise distracted them.

“Stay here,” 'SJ' ordered. Peter moved to guard the door while they got a couple of more pages in.

'Benton' and 'SJ' came back. “Time to pack it up,” 'Benton' warned. Neal put every paper back in the exact same place before closing the cabinet and relocking. 'Mike' cleaned the activity while Peter placed the scanner back where it was stored.

“Done,” 'Mike' reported before backing up the group. The others were already well ahead, another set of guards coming up. Neal pulled away after catching sight of something in a room. Using 'Mikes' disabling device, he undid the lock and pulled 'Mike' in with him, closing and locking after.

The other three got to an unused and unlocked room and hid quickly to wait for the pair to pass. “Where's 'Mike'?” 'SJ' questioned.

Peter realized quickly that his partner wasn't there either. “Damn it, Neal,” he muttered.

“Neal, what are you going?” 'Mike' quickly exclaimed.

“'Mike,' look around. Doesn't this look familiar?” he presented.

After waiting for his eyes to adjust, he agreed, “Yeah. The medical room in the flash.” Both waited for the guards to pass before exploring. Neal found nothing unusual for a private medical room. Instead, he looked toward a bare section of wall and floor. _The rest of the room has cupboards and tables, all of which are packed to the brim. Why wouldn't they be making the most out of this space?_ His first idea was that there was a secret door of some type, and he searched the wall first, looking for cracks and hidden panels.

“There's nothing here,” 'Mike' proclaimed.

At that moment, Neal pressed on an oddly placed outlet. Expecting the wall to moved, he stepped back when a section of the floor right by his feet lifted up. He lamented, “I wouldn't say that's nothing.”

'SJ' and Peter doubled back to find the other two, 'Benton' grumbling behind them. Peter was the one that found the medical room and motioned to them. All three walked in just as Neal pressed the switch that opened the floor. “Oh look, the Batcave,” he jested, grabbing their attention, “Only you, Neal. Why did you run off?”

“We recognized it,” 'Mike' answered, motioning to his governor to indicate the Intersect flash both had. 

Neal made to go down first, but Peter pulled him back and 'SJ' went down first. “Clear,” she reported, hesitance in her voice. 'Mike' was curious at the change of voice and went down. Peter followed Neal down after he had broke out of the hold. 'Benton' only followed after relocking the door and pushing something in front that wouldn't be seen, but would give them some time.

“Oh my god,” 'Mike' muttered. The room barely held 'SJ' and 'Mike' side by side, so Neal stood by the stairs and Peter and 'Benton.'

“Not again,” 'Benton' grumbled, gaining the stare of the two men who didn't know what was going on.

The only thing in the basement-like room was a pod. There was a computer attached by wires to the underside of the pod. A quick look at the monitor showed several different status readouts, including heart rate, temperature and oxygen levels. 'Mike' worked on the computer to look for alarms and information. “Anything?” 'SJ' asked.

“Three alarms, and...” he paused, “Disabled. Hopefully no one is watching this remotely, but if they are...”

“We need to get this person out,” 'SJ' completed, “'Benton' call in a team, we can't risk waiting. They're going to know soon.” She worked the pod over before finding the latches that have kept it closed. With 'Mikes' help, they lifted the lid.

There was a person, a man, lying in the pod, bound to the sides with wide strips of medical restraints. Several wires were around his chest and head while there were tubes going in his arms and a couple of others that traveled up the thin paper pants he was wearing.

'Mike' smiled as he saw the person.

“Bryce.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, the information on Neal's family is now entirely AU.


	4. Chapter 4

The mere mention of his first name caused him to try and awaken from his drug induced stasis. It took a while for Bryce to focus, but Chuck was one of the first things he saw. “Chuck?” he slurred, before seeing Sarah behind him. “Sarah?”

“Yeah, Bryce,” he repeated, watching Sarah take off the straps before starting on the wires. Disconnecting him from the tubes was complicated, but he wasn't the one to go under the pants to get those ones. He managed to get him up and out of the box to find he couldn't stand. “Neal?” Switching the gun to his other hand, the other man fit himself under Bryce's left arm. Chuck kept to his right side.

Peter and 'Benton' walked back up and watched for people while Chuck, Neal and Bryce struggled their way up. Once they were close to the door, 'Benton' moved out first, taking out two more guards. They made it down the hall to spot four more coming at them, two blocking their exit. 'Benton' neutralized the two that were blocking the way; Peter disarmed the other two. After getting the three out and Peter, Sarah finished off the last two.

Peter headed to his car with Sarah following behind. “Agent Burke, you're going to need to come with us,” she ordered, taking his keys and sitting in the drivers side. Annoyed that he wasn't allowed to drive, he dropped in the passenger side while Sarah followed 'Benton.'

Chuck was in the backseat with Bryce while Neal had taken the passenger seat to allow them more room. Bryce had fallen unconscious again and Chuck had him against his side. Nobody said anything as they headed back to the 'Gym'. He helped Chuck get Bryce to a medical wing that was equipped with an operating room and two private rooms with their own bathrooms. Settling him in one of the private rooms, he helped set up an IV for nutrition before leaving the two in the room.

He came out to see Peter glaring at Sarah and 'Benton.' Whatever the three had been talking about wasn't satisfactory for Peter, because he asked, “Who the hell are you three? I heard Chuck and Sarah from Neals look-a-like, so I know yours isn't Benton.”

Seeing Neal walking down, she brought Peter into the conference room that they had been in before. The NSA logo was on the TV. There were two stacks of papers. _Great, secrecy forms._ 'Benton' pushed him in front of the larger stack. “Why do I have more papers to sign?” he slightly complained.

“Don't sign anything,” Peter reacted, “Tell me, us what is going on? Because you three are not FBI agents.”

“You're correct, Agent Burke, they're not,” General Beckman proclaimed, showing up on the screen and making Peter almost jump out of his skin, “But before any of us explain what is going on, you will need to sign those forms. Something that Caffrey should have done before we explained things to him.”

Chuck just finished on the latest governor he knew would be needed when he heard the rustling of the sheet. Bryce wasn't awake, but he was in the middle of transitioning from a dream. _A nightmare is more like it._ Unable to bear his pain, he moved the table he was working on to the wall and walked on the other side of the IV. Carefully lifting him up, he slipped under Bryce's body and aligned him so his ear was directly over his heart. The hand with the IV was encased in his so the port wouldn't rip out.

It took a minute for him to calm down, but Bryce did calm down, the unoccupied hand finding his upper arm and wrapping around it. He settled down as much as he could and started to feel tired. _A nap won't screw me up that much._ Using his free hand, he bunched up the pillow to make it more comfortable.

Sarah just walked in after he stopped abusing the pillow. She moved just into his eyesight, where he caught sight of her. “I... What does this look like to you?” he inquired.

“Cuddling,” she answered.

He nodded, “Okay, I thought it would, but in my defense, he was having a nightmare.” At Sarah's raised eyebrow, he explained, “Bryce had this bad fever at Stanford. He had hallucinations. I was able to convince him he was safe when he heard my heartbeat. I used to wake up with him sprawled on me after.” Her mouth twisted in a little half smile, the idea becoming a cute little picture in her head. He joined her in the thought.

Peter got through about half when 'Benton', _no Casey,_ got a call on his cell. He walked out of the room to answer it. He looked over to Neal, who was only a third through his. The two stared at each other for a second before going back to the papers.

Casey was coordinating a raid on the second warehouse. The NSA had the entire place wrapped up and was chasing everyone that was connected. They would be able to take out a good chunk of the American branch. “What is it?” he commanded.

“We may have a problem,” the agent he left in charge told him, “Someone has been watching Caffrey for weeks before this op.”

“Do we know who?”

“Unsure. According to several of the guards, Hanover never came toward this end, but they remembered two other men. One fit the description of Daniel Shaw.”

“And the other?”

“We can't quite be sure. None of us recognize him and he successfully avoided the cameras whenever they didn't knock them out.”

“Stills from the remaining video footage, now. Get that room packed up and back to the substation.” He walked down toward the medical wing.

Peter was grateful for the call during the longest paragraph he was reading. “Jones, how's it going with the warehouses?”

“Warehouse one was just cold food. Warehouse three had another freezer that we didn't think about until someone noticed that they only took cold food at one. We opened it and discovered drugs that were frozen in blocks of ice. I guess he didn't want them to mix up in his food,” he reported.

“Are we able to connect him directly?”

“We're dusting for prints right now. If they're on there, he's not going to be able to argue it.”

“Unless he claims someone planted them,” he thought absentmindedly. “Find all security cameras and footage that you can. If he's seen with the drugs, he can't argue it.”

“Got it. For the record, the restaurant also had plenty of evidence of just the money laundering.”

“All right, thanks Jones.” 

Casey had his phone ready when he walked in the room. Sarah sat up as he pushed the screen under Chuck's nose. He looked over and mouthed, “Shaw,” before seeing the other person.

_Nicholas Quinn. Former CIA. Candidate for the Intersect, captured by enemies when Sandwall happened and Larkin sent the Intersect to Bartowski. Discharged, went freelance. Has been connected to Fulcrum, the Ring and Volokoff Industries through his business._

He lightly shook his head before looking up. “His name's Nicholas Quinn, former CIA. He was chosen to be the Intersect, but when Bryce sent me it, he failed. He was captured by enemies and after he got back, he was discharged. He's been working with Fulcrum and the Ring. And something called Volokoff Industries.”

“Why is Shaw working with this man?” Sarah questioned.

“Unknown, but they were watching Caffrey before Burke's team had the information on Hanover.”

“Why would they have been watching him?” Chuck asked.

“The contents of the room are being brought back here,” Casey mentioned, letting them piece it together. “Burke's almost done with his paperwork.” Sarah nodded and followed him out.

Peter pushed his pile forward just as Casey and Sarah walked back in. “Agent Burke,” she greeted, taking the paperwork and starting to comb through it. Making sure several of the key areas were signed, she placed it out of the way. “What we inform you of cannot be discussed with your colleagues, friends, family, your wife,” she pointed out.

Neal snickered, and Peter hit him in the arm. “He can't lie to El,” he commented.

“I've never seen you get away with it,” he retorted.

General Beckman showed up on the screen, nodding to Sarah to start. “Myself, Chuck and Casey are part of a joint CIA-NSA operation. Chuck and I are CIA, Casey's NSA,” she explained, “Justin Hanover is a member of a terrorist group called the Ring. When the CIA found out about your investigation into his money laundering, we came out to help with his takedown.”

“Masquerading as FBI?”

“It was better that the Ring didn't know we were out here. We're here to ensure that Hanover is stopped and that we can bring in as many of his associates as possible.” Casey's phone started to ring and he went out into the hall to answer. “We have reason to believe that someone set up Hanover to fall.”

“Agent Walker?”

“There was a room inside the warehouse that had intel on Caffrey dating back months, possibly years. Before Hanover,” she informed.

“Someone was watching me?” Neal asked, “Why?”

“We don't know that yet. The room is being packed up and brought here. Ma'am, Shaw was one of the men that we saw on the surveillance camera.”

“And the other?”

“Someone known as Nicholas Quinn.” 

Neal flashed on the name, the same information coming up. Peter didn't know what was going on, but Beckman did. “Mr. Caffrey?”

“Former CIA, was meant to get the first Intersect, but when that went to Chuck, was captured. He's been working with the bad guys from his new business,” he shortened.

“Chuck also flashed?”

“He mentioned work with Fulcrum and the Ring,” she added.

She frowned, “With Shaw around, I don't want to take any chances. Caffrey will have to stay in the substation. Agent Burke, it may be wise for you to stay and your wife may need to be brought here.”  
Peter was about to argue, but she stopped him. “Given the relationship between the three of you, you and your wife will be targets as well.”

“What about Kate?” Neal asked.

“Moreau is safe,” Sarah told him, “We found out where she is and have been monitoring. There are no Ring agents nearby, so it would take a while for them to get her.”

Neal was about to ask where she was, but Peter silenced him with a stare. Beckman signed off after nodding to Casey and Sarah. “How exactly does Neal know this?” Peter inquired, “He has no interest in CIA or NSA, so there would be no reason for him to know about this Quinn. And she mentioned something about flash.”

“Hanover had a copy of something called the Intersect,” Sarah declared, “It's filled with intelligence secrets from the CIA and the NSA. Neal downloaded it into his brain.”

“When?”

“At Hanover's party.”

He sighed, “Neal.”

“Hey, it's not like I knew what was on the file,” he defended.

“All right, one final thing, who's Bryce and why does he look like Neal?” Peter asked.

“Larkin's an agent,” Casey muttered.

“We thought he was dead,” she added.

Neal waited a minute before saying, “You haven't said why he looks like me.”

Sarah knew but didn't want to answer. Casey had a fair idea, but he wasn't sharing. Instead, he mentioned, “The room's been set up in an unoccupied office.”

She got up. “I'm going to go through the room that Shaw and Quinn set up. Kitchen's on the third floor; I'm on the second. Casey will go with you to pick up your wife.” Casey walked with Peter, who started calling El. Sarah got in the elevator with them. Neal thought for a minute before heading toward the medical wing.


	5. Chapter 5

Neal stopped at the door when he saw both of them asleep. His intention had been to question Chuck. He didn't need the Intersect to make him think about identical twins. His mother had once told him that he was a gift, and it wasn't until he found papers after her death that he found out about the adoption. There was no birth certificate, but it wouldn't have surprised him that his father may have destroyed it in his cleaning of suspicious documents before he was 'killed' and placed in protection. He figured Chuck may have found it out and had it checked then found conclusive proof.

He hadn't moved and didn't know where anywhere else he could go when Bryce started moving and waking up. He watched him realize that he had been on Chuck, staring for a moment before weakly staggering over to the bathroom, where the angle was that he couldn't see what was happening, thankfully. He came out and walked over toward him, dragging the IV pole with him. Neal saw he was wobbling while he was walking and tried to sit him in the chair. He glared, but sat down. “I'm not fragile,” he grumbled.

“You are at the moment,” he quipped, stepping back when Bryce tried to swipe at him. “You were kept weak and in a drug-induced coma. Nobody comes back from that within a few hours.”

“They do if they've experienced it before,” he mumbled. He hissed and dropped his head in his hands. “Damn, that's one thing I didn't mind being in that thing for hours on end.”

“How bad's your head?” Neal asked.

“Pounding.”

Chuck sat up after hearing Bryce in pain. “Hey,” he called, getting his attention, “The watch on the little table, put it on.” Confused, but trusting Chuck, he took the newest governor and latched it on his left arm. He let out a moan that should have been heard during sex. Not that either of them have had sex with Bryce. “That has to be the most interesting reaction to a governor,” Chuck mentioned.

He queried, “Governor?”

“Dad designed it to cope with the stresses of the Intersect,” he explained.

Neal raised an eye at the revelation. “Your Dad?”

“He worked on the Intersect,” he partially revealed.

He decided to segue into what he found out about their parents. “Chuck, what did you find out about us?” he inquired, “Our parents.”

Bryce looked at Chuck. “Chuck?”

“There was only a mother listed on the birth certificate,” he replied, “Twin boys born twenty minutes apart on October eleventh and twelfth to Afona Cân. After giving birth, she ran.” Chuck watched Bryce slump as much as his body would allow. Neal left before he saw Chuck moving off the bed. _Maybe Sarah needs some help._

{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}

Sarah's first act was to pull all the pictures out and start going through them. Going by seasonal markers and store fronts, she was able to establish a reasonable timeline. The earliest picture was just after Neal got out of prison, longer hair and dressed in a black turtleneck and gray slacks. There were several with Burke, a few with other members of the FBI team. A couple with a woman that owned the house he was living in. Another woman in a few more. With the pictures done, she moved onto paperwork.

Shaw initially started out thinking Neal was Bryce, using time in jail to establish a new cover and heal from the gunshot. He contacted Quinn with help on possible extraction and abduction when he needed it. A few notes later, Shaw must have been introduced to a scientist that was working on the Ring Intersect, because he started noting Bryce and Neal separately. They were theorizing over the possibility that the two were twins. Then they were wondering if Neal had the same ability to take in the Intersect like Bryce.

Sarah turned when she heard the door open. Neal walked in. Wordlessly, she passed along the notes she had already gone through so he could go through and possibly flash on anything. They worked silently, Neal not flashing on anything. The ideas he read went from ludicrous to frightening, especially when he got into their ideas about kidnapping him. 

It was a few more minutes before Chuck and Bryce decided to show up. Bryce was still dragging the IV along, but now he was also joined by a mug of something. Chuck had two mugs, both with coffee. He placed one near Sarah before finding a box he could dive in. Bryce ended up looking at the items they had already looked at, finding the need to catch up.

“Who's Shaw?” Bryce questioned.

Chuck looked over to Sarah, who was carefully closed off before she answered, “He was a mole inside the Ring for the CIA before he went rogue and joined them.”

“Not now,” Bryce argued, “Whatever you're holding back, stop.”

“Shaw was on the team,” Chuck added, voice low.

“Eve Shaw was my test,” she ended. 

Bryce frowned, but didn't say anything as he finished his mug. Chuck noticed. “More?”

“No, I'm good,” he replied. He got up to move when the power died.

“Shit.”

{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}

Daniel Shaw got wind of the take down of Hanover's laundering and extracurriculars the day before Peter officially got the warrant for his properties. _About time._ Burke was one of the cleanest agents in the FBI, and taking down Hanover had been done closely to the book. Which meant that it took a while for them to get to the actually arresting. At least they were getting closer to Caffrey.

It was normal for him to be watching the FBI building, catching routines that would make it easier for Shaw and Quinn to grab him. That's when he noticed the three of them. “Damn it,” he growled, speed-dialing Quinn.

“What now?” the man on the other side complained.

“They're here.”

“What?”

“The Ring angle. Beckman couldn't ignore it.”

“So she sent them out,” Quinn grumbled, letting out a string of half-English, half something else that he heard through the phone. “How close are they to taking down Hanover?”

“They need evidence.”

“Well, lets just push them ahead.” Shaw nodded at the next words and got off to call Saxon. After the woman's death, and Hanover's attempt to stop the investigation, he knew that Burke would start to speed things up as carefully as possible to get Hanover behind bars.

He wasn't far off when the warrant came in and he heard Burke going off to the restaurant while other agents covered the warehouses. It would just be a matter of faking a rookie agent to make sure no one discovered his room or the special area inside warehouse two. Burke didn't go off to the restaurant like he was planning, assigning Jones and driving off somewhere else.

He grew angry when he saw Team Bartowski instead of FBI agents. And Caffrey was among them. Dialing Quinn while looking them over, he spotted the watch on his left wrist and pieced it together carefully. “Caffrey has an Intersect.”

“Do you think....”

“Unless they managed to glue together the remnants of the last one that Chuck destroyed, I'm fairly sure he has our pieced together version that Justin had on his computer.”

“And he's not comatose or dead. He is like his brother. Where are they?”

“At the warehouse.”

There was a pause before he threatened, “Don't allow them....”

“I could kill them all, but I doubt I would get two shots off before someone decided to fire back.” _And gets a hit. Even Chuck would kill me now, if Casey and Sarah didn't accomplish it first. Burke would even fire back._

“Do you know where they are?”

“I can place a tracker.”

“Then I will meet you with a few necessary items.” The call ended. He hurried down to the cars to plant a tracker on Burke's car, since it was least likely to be searched, and he thought that they would be dragging him back to the substation they were stationed at. Then he sat back to wait. It didn't take long for them to enter, and he opened his remote access to the security system to monitor their progress. He muttered a few things watching them. Neal was a little more interesting than the others. He figured out obstacles and found the medical room and pulled Chuck in. He even figured out the secret room when several Ring agents passed it up going in every time. “You will be an interesting addition.”

They struggled with Bryce back to the cars and smirked when Sarah took Burke's keys before they followed the other car. He brought up the map with the tracker flashing up at him. He then planned on joining the FBI team that Burke would most likely call up to get identifying items from the room before going to the substation. There was a flak jacket in his trunk and a standard FBI weapon for him to pass off.

Instead, another van just rolled up outside of the warehouse. Instead of FBI agents, he watched several trained operatives jump out. _Casey called in a team._ He was going to be found out soon. He packed up quickly and hurried to the location that the tracker had stopped at.

Quinn was waiting. The man was next to a van, specially outfitted to transport prisoners. Along side chains, he saw a cell phone jammer. _Perfect._ They decided to wait for a time to enter the building with less problems. It was an hour before Casey and Burke walked out, Burke calling someone on his phone. Immediately, both headed down to the entrance they had cased. The other car safely out of the zone, the jammer was activated.

Shaw had the door disabled while the machine worked. He quickly ran down to the room most likely to be housing the controls for power, and found it. He disabled the backup connection and looked for alarms in the housing. He opened the panel then took it off to get to the wires. He gathered the main one that would removed all power and held them, ready to yank out. Quinn offered him night vision goggles and he placed them on his head. He double-checked his gun and watched Quinn get ready to take off. He pulled the wires out, seeing sparks while the lights all cut out. He slid his goggles down and turned them on just in time to see the very barest of lights go on. Even in CIA substations, they had exit signs powered by batteries.

“I'll take Larkin,” Quinn grunted.

“Good, because I wasn't about to hand Walker over to anyone else,” he countered, moving the opposite way from Quinn. “Ready or not, Sarah, here I come.”

{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}

Chuck had his cell out and used its limited light to gather Sarah, Neal and Bryce. Sarah managed to get her phone out and checked it. “No signal,” she muttered. Neal checked his phone and shook his head. “Damn it.”

“This Shaw?” Bryce suggested.

“Quinn?” Neal added.

“We should see if the Internet's still up,” Chuck mentioned, “We can send something to Casey or Peter.”

Sarah replaced her phone with a gun. “Closest computers are in the offices, other end of the floor,” she informed. Bryce started getting up to join them. She pushed him back down and ordered, “Neal, stay here, keep him here and lock up after we leave.”

Before he could protest, Chuck said, “Bryce, you are physically weak at the moment. You don't have a weapon and the Intersect might knock you unconscious with a flash. Stay down.” _We just got you back and none of us want there to be a third chance for someone to shoot at you._ Sarah went first, and looking down the hall, went out with Chuck following.

Neal got ready to lock and started searching for something to place against the door when Bryce got up and started moving toward the door. “What are you doing?” he hissed.

“There is no way I'm just going to sit back,” he complained.

“So you're going to wear yourself out, get yourself recaptured and become prisoner again. Great plan,” he mocked. Bryce growled, then plucked the needle out of his skin. He quickly walked over, gaining strength, or adrenaline, when he hit the door. “They're going to kill me.” Neal waved caution and safety to follow him. An odd movement told him he still had the tranquilizer gun that Chuck had given him. “Here,” he passed.

Bryce scowled at him, stating “A dart gun? What the hell?”

“Better than nothing. You're the one that shouldn't fight,” he retorted. Bryce just added a glare before walking off. “What exactly are you thinking?”

“Getting down to the armory to get a gun,” he started.

“You have a gun,” Neal pointed out.

“An actual gun.”

“That is...”

“One that shoots bullets. Then we're finding the electrical room. Back up should have came on. It didn't, so we need to find the utility room to get the power back on.”

“Except for the gun, reasonable plan,” he said. “Wait, how are Chuck and Sarah able to get on the Internet then?”

“Landlines and laptop battery,” he answered, “But just in case the entire place went wireless, we should get down there faster.” 

Navigating the halls was dangerous without light. Barely able to see the floor, both kept tripping over carpet edges and hidden wires. Then, they came to the stairwell. “Slow and steady,” Neal muttered, following Bryce down. The exit signs only illuminated the doorways, leaving the stairs in complete darkness. Each step was carefully and slowly taken. They reached the first floor landing with minimal bruising.

“Armory's this way,” Bryce muttered, heading down the hall. Neal followed behind, watching for movement along the corridors. The stopped outside a door and tried the knob to find it locked. Neal took out his picks and selected two by touch to unlock the door. After two minutes, he tried the knob again and opened the door.

Bryce walked in and started looking for another gun. Neal stood at the entrance. The arm that wrapped around his neck choked off any warning and the attached body forced him in the room. The door closed behind them, what little light being shut out. Bryce reacted, closest gun at hand pointed at them. “Put the gun down, Larkin, you don't have the advantage,” a slightly accented voice mocked.

“I think I'll take my chances,” he said.

“Typical.” Neal felt a muzzle being pushed into his ribs. The arm was choking off his air supply and he tried to straighten his neck to allow more in. The back of his head connected with something before the head behind him moved. _He's wearing something. Around eye level._ It took him a minute to connect it. _Night vision._ Being careful and slow with his actions, he pulled out his cell phone and moved it up toward his neck. The screen was pressed against his body to keep his intention secret. “Put the gun down or your brother is going to get a very serious wound. One that you have some experience with,” he threatened.

Neal breathed before holding the phone in front of what he thought was the mans eyes. Pushing a button, the screen lit up, temporarily blinding the man as he let out a short yell. He pulled as much as he could to one side, letting a small patch of the man's body open and lit. Bryce targeted the area and shot three times in his direction.


	6. Chapter 6

The first office Chuck and Sarah came to had no laptops. The conference rooms all had laptops, but none of the batteries were charged, or even there. Chuck suggested, “We should file a complaint.”

“Yeah, Chuck, because the CIA reacts well with complaints,” Sarah droned.

“Then how about suggestions, for the next time a substation gets raided and they need to get communications out? Laptop, batteries, landlines,” he mentioned.

“Landlines, shit,” she muttered, “The CIA has been phasing out landlines, most stations have wireless.”

“And wireless is going to be blocked by the jammer,” he added, “What do you think the range of the jammer is?”

“I wouldn't put it past Shaw to have the entire building covered. Our best bet would be to get out.” 

Chuck nodded, “Yeah, we should go get Bryce and Neal.” 

They quickly retreated to the evidence room to see the door was partially open. “Damn it, Bryce,” Sarah cursed.

“Okay, what would be his plan?”

Sarah thought about it for a moment before she concluded, “Weapon.” Both took the same route that Bryce and Neal had taken to get to the armory. The door was open and there was no sign of either of them. “Electrical room. He may have noticed the backup wasn't working and went to investigate.”

Walking down to the next room, Chuck had moved slightly ahead of Sarah. He couldn't see very well in the shadows and didn't notice the human shaped blob that he passed. Sarah moved just pass the blob when it attacked her, choking off her warning and knocking the gun out of her hand before placing one near her temple. Chuck turned around after hearing the choke. “Hello, Bartowski,” a very familiar voice greeted.

“Shaw,” he said, “Useless to ask you to let her go.” He raised his gun to the mass he couldn't really see. It was impossible to tell them apart and he didn't want to hit Sarah. _If I hit Sarah, then she won't be able to fight back._

Someone moved in the shadows just out of Shaw's sight. “Why would I let her go? I'm finishing what I started,” he threatened. Chuck took off the safety. Shaw laughed. “What are you going to do, shoot me? You failed last time.”

“I'll make sure to get it right this time,” he threatened.

“Chuck!” Sarah yelled.

“You can't see me, Chuck,” he taunted.

Just after he said that, the power came back on, and with it the lights. Blinding Shaw, he shouted as he had to close his eyes against the brightness his goggles now produced. A single shot rang out.

{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}

_Bastard's heavy._ Neal grunted as he forced Quinn's dead arm weight off of his neck. His phone sill in his hand, he used it to confirm Quinn was dead. Instead he saw three little red darts. “You cursed me,” Bryce mildly complained, switching the dart gun for another he was going for.

“At least he's down and out,” Neal grumbled.

“Darts never last long on agents. Even former ones,” he mentioned, dropping down next to them. Taking off the man's belt, he bound his wrists and took Neal's belt with a minor argument to tie his ankles. The finishing touch was taking the goggles, adjusting it to fit his head. He looked over at Neal, who was unimpressed. “Electrical room,” he said, standing up. He ignored the waving of his body and surged forward.

The panel was the first thing he saw, lying on the ground in front of the housing. The wires were underneath, half hidden. “Damn it,” he muttered. Neal had his phone out and was going over the housing.

“They were just ripped out,” he informed. He checked a few of them before grabbing at the panel. “We can temporarily fix it so the lights can come on.” He nodded, agreeing with the solution. Neal had the majority of the wires reattached inside the housing when both heard Chuck talking. Moving toward the door, Bryce saw the stand off between Chuck and Shaw.

“What the hell....” Neal muttered as Bryce took the panel out of his hands and flipped everything to the off position.

“Shaw has Sarah,” he said.

“Shit.”

Bryce took off the goggles and placed them on Neal, fitting perfectly over his eyes. “I'm going to motion to you to turn the power back on.”

“Blinking you,” he iterated.

“Blinding Shaw,” he insisted. He went back to his position, just outside of Shaw's sight. Neal finished wiring the panel and had a screw in place when Bryce started motioning to him. He shut his eyes and started flicking all the switches back on.

Bryce had his eyes closed just after he gave the signal to Neal. His eyelids got lighter, but he didn't open them until he heard Shaw shouting. Sarah saw him and used the distraction to get out of his grip and give him a better target. Bryce fired. Instead of a kill shot, he wounded Shaw, hitting just below his collar bone. He joked, “Damn, still cursed.” The three of them managed to restricted him, applying a temporary bandage and binding his wrists. Sarah and Chuck forced him up and started walking him to the holding cells.

Neal walked out of the room to see Bryce slumping against the wall. “You okay?” he asked.

“Fine,” he lied, trying to get off the wall and only making it a couple of steps before slumping against it again. Neal wordlessly slid under an arm and helped him get to the elevator. The medical wing wasn't entirely lit, as Chuck had shut off any lights that he could. Neal had to turn on the light to the recovery room they had been in before.

The bed wasn't made, and bunched up sheets made for a resting place for an envelope. “We should....” Bryce started, but Neal ignored him, picking it up. He sat Bryce down on the bed before sitting beside him. He opened the envelope and check for powders _A bit late for that_ before pulling out the letter.

_Hello, my darling children_

_I'm sorry for giving you two up. It was safer for you two to be raised away from me, away from your father and away from our life. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done and I regret not being able to raise you. From what I've seen, both of you turned out to be wonderful men and maybe one day we'll finally meet and I can tell you everything._

_Until then Sweeties_  
  
“No name,” Neal noted.

“Unless it's this,” Bryce pointed out. There were interconnecting and detailed circles where someone's name would normally go.

“What language is that?”

“It's not translating. The Intersect doesn't know it.”

“Maybe that's what she'll have to explain,” Neal mentioned.

Bryce stared at him. “You really think that we'll meet them?” he questioned, skeptical.

“It's always possible.” Bryce just nodded and decided not to fight. “What?”

“Nothing,” he mumbled, sounding dejected. Neal shook his head and decided on something that might not have been taken well or could have gotten him killed.

He hugged him.

For five seconds, Bryce just stiffened, not moving to accept it, but not withdrawing either. He turned at the six second and returned the hug, arms circling Neal and squeezing. But he wasn't the type to linger and he broke it quickly, going back to sitting side by side.

“So, what crime got you that?” Bryce inquired, looking down to the anklet.

“Does the crime of love count?” he partially joked.

{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}

After getting Shaw in a holding cell, Chuck and Sarah headed toward the security room for any indication of Quinn. Both watched the monitors for a few minutes, scanning exits and the rooms around Bryce and Neal as they made their way back up to the third floor. “Nothing,” Chuck said.

Sarah focused on one monitor before pointing it out. “This door shouldn't be open,” she informed. Chuck headed out to check while she stayed and watched the three of them. She saw him on the screen,; he waved at the camera before quickly checking outside. She started getting worried after a few more minutes and almost jumped when her phone started going off. She checked it quickly before seeing it was Chuck. “Quinn?”

“Gone, but I found the jammer and where they were situated. He had a large vehicle, van or SUV,” he reported.

“He's gone,” she sighed, and resisted the urge to smack something. “Come back in, we'll inform Casey as soon as he comes back.”

“I'll head up to tell Bryce and Neal. Meet me up there,” she ended, waiting for him to end his side before hanging up herself.

Chuck ended up on the third floor first, taking the elevator and carrying the jammer along with him. Sarah walked up the stairs, putting in extra speed to get up to third quicker. Both walked into the room at the same time.

Whatever Neal had been telling Bryce, he stopped when they walked in. Chuck said, “Quinn's gone.”

Bryce grimaced at the news. Neal frowned, “He had three tranquilizer darts in his chest.”

“Those darts are not meant for agents,” Sarah mentioned, “They're not strong enough.”

“Seriously, I had to empty a clip in this really huge guy, about as huge as Casey,” Chuck related.

“Are you calling me fat, Bartowski?” Casey accused, sort of sneaking up on him.

“No, no, I'm calling you very tall and muscular and I should really stop talking,” he figured. Sarah silently laughing and Bryce not silently.

The group turned serious as Sarah and Chuck led him down the hall. Peter and El had been led up by Casey, and were standing with him when he walked away. El saw Bryce and stared for a second before introducing herself. “El Burke.”

“Bryce,” he smiled, trying to be charming.

She laughed, “Oh, you are Neal's twin.” Peter rolled his eyes as the two of them grinned exactly the same.


	7. Chapter 7

It had been three weeks since the agents had left and everything had gone sort of back together. Sort of because the first week, there was a new man following Neal and later he found out it was Orion, Chuck's dad whose paranoia rivaled Moz's, which he didn't believe was even possible. He wanted to run tests on Neal, nothing bad just concerning the fact that the Intersect version he had in his head somehow came from a cobbled version from Bryce's head who didn't download it standing at the center point. When he ran his tests, he figured that the Ring had pieced it together right and he wouldn't have to worry about much. (“Just don't lose the Governor for significant periods of time. In fact, why don't I send a few more your way in case you tend to lose or break them often?” “It's fine, I really don't... Peter, stop laughing.”)

The second week, Beckman showed up on the conference TV while Peter and Neal were working on a new case. Her announcing herself to them would have been funny if both of them hadn't jumped a little at the fact the woman had somehow gotten on the TV in the FBI conference room. She informed them that while they couldn't have Neal transfer over to the CIA (Peter argued for an hour before Neal told her he hated guns and wouldn't be able to kill someone, quite possibly even if someone's life depended on it so Neal stayed with Peter with a few new precautions and rules) they did want a separate handler for Neal so if he flashed on anything, it would be run through the proper channels. The handler would be coming from DC the next week to set up; she finished the one sided conversation by putting the FBI logo back on the screen when Lauren walked.

So when the day they were supposed to meet Neal's CIA handler came, both walked out for lunch, claiming that they may be out longer talking to a few witnesses. Beckman told them they were going to meet in front of a diner, someone would ask what the meaning of malum lupus meant. Peter translated it to Bad Wolf. When Neal heard that, the Intersect tried bringing up everything on Bad Wolf. Except there wasn't anything. All the files the Intersect tried to bring up were all deleted and corrupted with a virus. The only thing he could get out of it was a picture of a woman, a man in a pinstriped suit and UNIT stamped across something. 

_“UNIT?” Peter asked, again._

_“Yeah,” he snapped, “Like the last three times. What's is it with UNIT? You had Sarah and I use it as a codeword.”_

_“Yeah, and I didn't think it would come back to bite us in the ass,” he mused, “UNIT is the Unified Intelligence Taskforce. They work with the UN over global threats.”_

_“Global threats?” he questioned._

_“I don't know much about it. The one and only time I dealt with them, we were investigating some stolen property. They took over, saying something we were finding was a danger to the world and they had the right people to deal with it.”_

_“That had to hurt.”_

_“Hughes had no control. Bancroft had no control,” he confided, “Diana was still with us at the time and said she's seen them a few times in action. Jones mentioned running across them while he was with the Marines.”_

Peter tried not looking around while Neal played with his phone. “Peter, you're conspicuous,” he said.

He didn't respond and Neal almost wanted to try calming him down, but he was at a crucial part of what he was working on (navigating a small little box around a thick maze was hard with the small navigational arrows). Instead, he didn't notice the new person when someone called out, “Petey.”

Peter looked in surprise as his former mentor ended up walking down the street toward them. “Phillip,” he greeted, standing up to shake his hand. “Neal,” he motioned, “This is my mentor, Phillip Kramer. You're still with DC Art Crimes?”

“Yep, waiting for the pension to kick in,” he confessed, “Listen, you wouldn't happen to know the translation of malum lupus, would you?” Peter and Neal shared a look. “Damn, I didn't know it would be you, Peter. Lets go find something to eat and I'll explain what will happen.”

**Author's Note:**

> Nerdy notes
> 
> Sadako (the Sushi place) – the little girl from Ringu
> 
> Mike, SJ and Benton – characters from Doctor Who, Mike Yates and John Benton were UNIT, SJ is Sarah Jane Smith, companion
> 
> Harold Saxon – from Doctor Who, the Master, the last alias where the Master used it to take over the world (Utopia/Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords)
> 
> Afona Cân – River Song in Welsh (Afon, really, but that didn't sound right)
> 
> malum lupus – Bad Wolf in Latin
> 
> I didn't realized with the aliases and the assassin that later on my brain would crossover with Doctor Who, so there's Doctor Who references but it's also real.


End file.
